Wire-stretcher.



H. A. PAHLKE.

WIRE STRETCHER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 5. my

1,175,659. Patented Mai. 14, 1916.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGEAPH cc., WASHINGTON. D. c.

TNT

HENRY A. PAHLKE, F ELGIN, NEBRASKA.

WIRE-STBETCHER.

Application filed. October 5, 1914.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY A. PAHLKE, asubject of Germany, residing at Elgin, in the county of Antelope, Stateof Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVVire-Stretchers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

This invention relates to improvements in wire stretchers, andparticularly to wire stretchers for fences.

One object of the invention is to provide a novel and effective devicewhereby fence wires can be tightly stretched from post to post, and alsoby means of which broken ends of a wire can be drawn together forsplicing as well as for taking up midwire slack.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is an elevation of my wire stretcher. Fig. 2is a top plan view. Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 ofFig. 2. Fig. 4 is an elevation showing the use of a clamp for woven wirefence stretching. Fig. 5 is an elevation of the device showing the samein use for stretching the broken ends of wires to be spliced. Fig. 6 isa top plan view of the device as shown in Fig. 5

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawings, and particularly toFigs. 1 and 1, 10 represents a yoke frame in the ends of the arms ofwhich are journaled the ends of the transverse shaft 11 and on which issecured a drum 12. The drum has a peripheral flange 13 on one end, and asimilar flange 14: intermediate its ends, while on the other end is alarge flange 15 formed with an outwardly extending and internallytoothed rack 16. Mounted on the shaft 11 outwardly of the flange 15 is apinion 17, this pinion being disposed between the flange and one arm ofthe yoke 10. Also secured to the shaft but outwardly of the arm of theyoke is a crank handle 18. Rotatably mounted on the arm of the yoke,between the rack 16 and the pinion 17 and meshing with both of them is apinion 19 similar to the pinion 17. Thus when the crank handle isturned, the pinion 17 will transmit motion Specification of LettersPatent.

Patented Mar. 1e, 1 316.

Serial No. 865,185.

by means of the pinion 19 to the rack, thus rotating the drum. Mountedon the frame is a pivoted double'pawl 20, one end of which engages witha series of ratchet teeth 21 formed on the flange 15, while the otherend is adapted for engagement with a second set of oppositely extendingratchet teeth 21 also formed on the flange.

Formed in the drum 12 are the sockets 22 in which are secured thecorresponding ends of a pair of cables 23 and 2 1% respectively. Thesecables are wound on the drum in opposite directions, one of them beingwound between the flanges 13 and 14 and the other one between theflanges 1 1 and 15. Secured to the outer end of each of the cables is awire clamp 25. The closed end of the yoke frame 10 is provided with achain 26 for attachment to a fence post 27.

In the operation of the device one of the clamps is engaged with thewire to be stretched after first securing the stretcher to the post, andthen the crank handle 18 rotated so as to wind one cable and unwind theother. One of the pawls 20 will engage with the ratchet teeth and holdthe drum against retrograde movement. The clamp of the cable which hasbeen unwound is then pulled forwardly and engaged with the wire inadvance of the first clamp and then the pawl rocked on its pivot toengage the other set of ratchet teeth and then the drum rotated in theopposite direction. This winds up the heretofore slacking cable,stretching the wire, and at the same time unwinding or slackening theheretofore taut cable. This back and forth rotation of the drum isrepeated until the wire is properly stretched and nailed to one of theposts.

To adapt the device for stretching woven wire fencing, there is providedthe elongated. strip 28 in one face of which is formed a longitudinalgroove 29 across which is secured a strip of sheet metal 30. Engaged onthe strip of sheet metal over the groove is a round bar 31 which isarranged to be drawn to press the sheet metal into the groove by meansof the hook members 32 carried by the strip 28. The woven wire isengaged between the bar 31 and the strip 28 and the hooks tightened bymeans of the nuts 33 so as to firmly clamp the device on the wire.Chains 34: are secured to the strip and to the ring 37, which ringcarries a chain 38 adapted to be engaged with a hook carried by thecable 23. It will be noted that the clamps are not connected directly tothe cable but carry chains 36 which are engaged with the hooks mentionedabove. These chains 36 provide adjustments so that the clamps can bemoved to greater or lesser distances from the stretching device.

Referring particularly to Fig. 5 the device is shown in use forstretching the broken ends of wires which are to be spliced. In thisposition, the frame 10 has a chain 24- attached. thereto, the outer endof this chain carrying a clamp 25 for engagement with the Wire 39. Overthe drum 13 is engaged a chain 23, the outer end of which carries a wireclamp to which grips the other broken end l1 of the Wire, while theinner end depends from the other side of the drum. The drum is formed inthe usual manner to receive the links of the chain. Thus when the drumis rotated to Wind the chain 23 thereon the end ell of the wire will bedrawn over to the end 39 so that these ends can be readily splicedtogether. it will be noted that the chain 26; as Well as the chain 24;are connected to theframe l0 and 10 respectively by means of the swivels42 and 43 respectively.

In Fig. 6, the chain 24 and the clamp are removed and the chain properlysecured around the post 27.

What is claimed is:

A wire stretcher comprising a U-frame, a drum rotatably mounted in thearms of the frame, a small flange formed at one end 7 of the drum, asimilar flange formed centrally on the drum, a large flange formed onthe other end of the drum, two circular series of ratchet teeth formedon the peripheral face of the larger flange, the teeth of one setextending in an opposite direction to those of the other set, a pivotedmember carried by the frame and formed with a pair of oppositelyextending and offset projections, each adapted to engage with one of thesets of teeth, the outer face of the said flange having a circularrecess, the surrounding wall of which is formed with gear teeth, apinionmounted on the adjacent pintle end of the drum and provided with a crankhandle and an intermediate pinion mounted on one arm ofthe frame andsimultaneously meshing with the said pinion and the teeth of the recess.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

HENRY A. PAHLKE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). C.

